Overview

• The incident occurred on September 16 at Colegio El Regato in Barakaldo, where the first sitting of about 150 Infantil pupils received the affected chickpeas before the kitchen switched to an emergency menu.
• The school informed families, retained a witness sample, sent it to an independent laboratory, and checked remaining stock, with the canteen serving roughly 1,450 pupils daily.
• Serunion says an independent lab found no health risk and that the chickpeas were not expired, describing weevils in legumes as typically undetectable before cooking and rendered harmless by preparation temperatures.
• The company says it has reviewed and audited service processes to prevent a repeat, while the LAB union accuses Serunion of pressuring and criminalizing canteen staff.
• The episode renews attention on Serunion after the Basque government opened a case in 2023, rescinded some school contracts in early 2024, and saw a €40,000 fine later annulled by the Basque High Court.